Posted
Nov 19 2008, 05:40 PM
by
Rod Chong
with 10 comment(s)
Our resident video editor: Riley Vigier started calling this video "Ultimate Drift" during the course of the post production process. It's a fairly good descriptor for this Speedhunters drifting art film. We've basically taken all our favourite slomo shots from the 2008 Formula drift season and compiled them into a montage style music video. As ever, the film features a custom score from Speedhunters London, UK based audio producer: Ekstrak . Enjoy the film! It's a good one...
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Posted
Oct 31 2008, 02:34 AM
by
Rod Chong
with 14 comment(s)
Most of the members of Team Falken will tell you that 2008 was a pretty tough year for them. Mechanical gremlins and delayed race car builds certainly pushed their stamina limits over the course of the season. None the less, they continue to be one of the most popular teams in Formula Drift. Go to any Formula Drift meeting and you'll find that there's always a big crowd around Team Falken's pit area. There is a real reason for this in my opinion. These guys continually give to the sport...
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Posted
Oct 22 2008, 03:27 AM
by
Rod Chong
with 8 comment(s)
You've seen the photos ... now watch the video!..... check out what 3000 bhp looks like when unleashed down the quarter mile..... all captured in slow motion HD video for your viewing pleasure. A few people mentioned that they thought we were played out with the "Slo-mo Moment" videos and we agree... we've moved on to a new style of our car art videos: the montage. Many liked our Spa FIA GT video but perhaps this one will steal the crown of the new king of Speedhunters videos.....
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Posted
Oct 16 2008, 02:53 PM
by
Rod Chong
with 17 comment(s)
Ok get ready for one of the best Speedhunters films yet... this video was shot at the FIA GT Spa 24H race this past August and features a custom music score by my man, Ekstrak out of his London, UK music studio. You've seen Antonio's post about the infamous Eau Rouge corner ... now you get to see for yourself why this is one of the most fearsome corners in all of racing. There really isn't anything quite like European GT racing.... .... or Spa-Francorchamps for that matter. Check the...
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Posted
Sep 30 2008, 09:00 PM
by
Rod Chong
with 15 comment(s)
So that's it for Porsche month... it's been quite the odyssey for the site it has to be said. Perhaps we went a bit crazy with our outpouring of love for the cars from Stuttgart... For those of you who were pained by this experience we apologize hahaha. It's hard to please everyone isn't it. At any rate regular service is about to be resumed. For now we'll leave you with this video we've been working on for the past few weeks. It features one brand new 2008 Porsche 911 GT2...
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Posted
Sep 19 2008, 09:00 PM
by
Rod Chong
with 24 comment(s)
On my first day back at the office after our epic Speedhunting trip in Europe and Japan, I rushed straight over to meet with our editor Riley, to hand him a hard drive full of amazing imagery from Ebisu, Leipzig, Honjyo, Spa and Suzuka.... But our first order of business was to edit this video piece: Team Orange Triple drifting on the famous Ebisu Circuit in Japan! I have to say it was quite something else to have the world's most famous drift team performing their triple action drifting, all...
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Posted
Sep 19 2008, 04:35 PM
by
Rod Chong
with 20 comment(s)
Ever heard the saying, "Man plans and God laughs"? Well sometimes this can be very true. You work on very detailed production plans, get everything organized to minute details... and then events take on a very different course. Sometimes the tendency is to get annoyed, but one should really try and roll with the punches, right? As I've mentioned before, we've been collaborating with Porsche a lot this month and they have kindly given us access to several of their vintage race cars...
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Posted
Sep 17 2008, 04:00 PM
by
Rod Chong
with 14 comment(s)
Things are busy, busy here at Need for Speed central ATM... The main dev team is putting the finishing touches on the new Need for Speed Undercover game which has them EXTREMELY busy as you can imagine. The final 5% to finish a game can be pretty tough going. Over in our little Speedhunters corner of the studio, we are in our own little mini crunch too. We are now over half-way through Porsche month, and have a hell of a lot more special features to finish. Much work to do yet! So I'm pleased...
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Posted
Aug 14 2008, 11:51 AM
by
Rod Chong
with 6 comment(s)
Sometimes when I am filming drifting, I am distinctly aware there is a large piece of metal that is hurtling itself on the very edge-of-control directly towards me. Normally this is somewhat of a pleasant rush; there is a certain exhilaration that comes with being so close to the action. Occasionally though, I do get internal warning signals that it's time to move to a safer position with the camera. No need to take unnecessary risks for the sake of a good shot IMO. So imagine the feeling when...
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Posted
Jul 10 2008, 02:44 PM
by
Rod Chong
with 10 comment(s)
And finally, the last video in our triple ensemble of American Drift beasts: Vaughn Gitten Jr's Falken Tires Ford Mustang. I'm well pleased with how this film has turned out! Make sure you crank your speakers right up when you watch this... We made sure to add extra engine sounds just for you lot. I'm sure you'll agree this is the best Car Tour yet! A big thanks to Vaughn for collaborating with us on this film as well as our trusty video editor Riley Vigier for his fine chopping skills...
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Posted
Jul 03 2008, 06:18 AM
by
Rod Chong
with 18 comment(s)
This is a bit of an epic slomo moment film coming in at 4 minutes duration. Perhaps a little self indulgent, but a must viewing for any purist drift car obsessive. The film shows the entire top 16 field from the recent Formula Drift New Jersey round as they roll in to the driver introductions..... I want you to consider as you watch this just how many of these cars have the full backing of a factory car or tire team..... it's pretty full on..... Also an amazing variety of machines. The only thing...
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Posted
Jul 01 2008, 03:53 AM
by
Rod Chong
with 6 comment(s)
It was a beautiful summer drifting moment: the smell of burning rubber.... intense humidity, sweat and grit baking my skin... a rowdy east coast crowd... a fantastic evening sunset......and team mates Rhys Millen and Daijiro Yoshihara going at it for the final Formula Drift New Jersey podium position. What could be better? :Rod Chong
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Posted
Jun 30 2008, 04:15 PM
by
Rod Chong
with 6 comment(s)
Samuel Hubinette is back in front of our cameras showing us around his 2008 Formula Drift competition machine: a supercharged 748bhp Dodge Viper SRT10. This is a continuation of our ongoing exploration of the convergence of drifting culture and American muscle cars. I'm still in a bit of awe as to just how professional the American drift scene is with their high budget teams, uniformed personnel and giant tractor trailer (lorries for you Brits) setups. Team Mopar/NuFormz Racing certainly is at...
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Posted
Jun 26 2008, 10:45 AM
by
Rod Chong
with 11 comment(s)
For the next few car tours, we are going to be exploring the iconic high horsepower, high torque muscle cars that are currently dominating much of the grids in stateside Formula Drift events. V8 power is a big trend in US drifting; whether shoehorning a big block into a Saturn Sky chassis or building out a pony car Mustang. It's pretty challenging for a high revving turbo car to compete with these torque heavy beasts with their on tap wheel spin. The Tanaka Racing Corvette is fast becoming force...
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Posted
Jun 23 2008, 06:00 AM
by
Rod Chong
with 4 comment(s)
Is the outcome of this drift battle the effect of the BHP/Torque arms race that is hitting American drifting? Was it the sheer grunt power of the Conrad Grunewald's Corvette that allowed him to open up such a huge gap to Takatori's R34? Is this the main element that caught out the Skyline driver and caused him to overshoot his corner entry? What do you think? Whatever the case this is a beautiful example of one driver really out-psyching another. Classic stuff. :Rod Chong
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Posted
Jun 20 2008, 02:15 PM
by
Rod Chong
with 8 comment(s)
.... or this could be Eri and the Lexus? Sexy JapaneseFalkengirlwholivesinLAsomeofthtime and the V8racenascarsoundinglexusIS? As you appreciate the beauty of Eri you'll notice that she is plugging her ears. There is a reason for this. That Lexus is LOUD. At Formula Drift NJ Hiro Sumida was playing with his his new 700 bhp Hasselgren V8 for the first time and it was shattering ear drums where ever it went! Before you start asking where the sound is, our camera doesn't record sound when it...
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Posted
Jun 20 2008, 04:00 AM
by
Rod Chong
with 4 comment(s)
On the day after the Formula Drift New Jersey event a few of us drove up to New York to check out the big city and meet up with a collaborator of mine; artist Motomichi Nakamura. New York city was a marked contrast after relative calm of New Jersey. It was like being dropped into a tornado of urban activity. The centre of the world no doubt! After fighting through the crowds at the crazy Canal Street we met up with Moto in front of his art studio just on the outskirts of NY's China Town. That's...
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Posted
Jun 18 2008, 10:34 AM
by
Rod Chong
with 3 comment(s)
Watch our camera lens get showered with stones! Now in slow motion! Ack. Need less to say I use lense filters from now on when shooting shots like this. Stoopid me. hmmm 1000 bhp makes for a good smoke machine no? Soon I will be able to identify tire companies by the smell of their tire smoke! Special thanks to Santa Pod raceway for letting us shoot there as well as Ekstrak for his dark sound scapes. :Rod Chong
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Posted
Jun 18 2008, 04:02 AM
by
Rod Chong
with 5 comment(s)
For some reason Chris Forsberg seems to show up a lot in these Slomo Moment videos. Not sure why that is. Perhaps I like the colour orange? At any rate he is not the main star of this video. That honour goes to the privateer drifter John Russakoff and his battered AE86. John caused a bit of a stir at Irwindale last year when he qualified for the Top 16. Haven't heard much from his since though. The key moment in this video for me is when he glances back (fearfully?) at the hard charging Forberg...
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Posted
Jun 17 2008, 02:30 PM
by
Rod Chong
with 5 comment(s)
Cameraman Ozan Biron is known for being a bit of a nutter when it comes to camera work. This shot is no exception. He found a nice hole in the fence to stick his lens through and look what happens! Getting closer! Closer! Ack! NOTE: No cameras or wing endplates were injured in this filming exercise. They just had a little "kiss". :Rod Chong
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